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08/06 - 28/06/2015

photo Linda Brownlee
Galleryphoto Linda Brownlee
  • BUY TICKET

    18.00: gates open
    20:00: support: REBEKA
    22:00 start concert Damon Albarn

    DAMON ALBARN (born 1968) is an English singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and composer. Undoubtedly he is one of the most charismatic personalities in contemporary alternative music. His presence onstage generates ecstatic enthusiasm in the crowds and every concert is a unique event. Albarn is considered a leading figure in Britpop and the main force behind the success of the legendary band Blur. In 1998, together with Jamie Hewlett, he founded the virtual band Gorillaz whose members were cartoon characters. The mix of rock, rap and pop was a remarkable success and affirmed his position as an unpredictable musician who skilfully combines genres and styles, someone who does not take himself too seriously, yet shows a critical attitude towards popular culture. As a member of different bands, Damon Albarn has received many Grammy and BRIT Awards, selling over 30 million records around the world. He is also a composer of film music, namely 101 Reykjavik and Broken, and of two operas: Monkey: Journey to the West (2007) and Dr Dee (2011), to name but a few. This concert in Poznań will promote his long-awaited new solo album Everyday Robots released on 28 April 2014. This most personal record in Albarn’s career consists of twelve tracks that merge childhood memories with a commentary on the contemporary modernised world of computer games, mobile phones, and a life suspended between nature and technology.


     

  • DAMON ALBARN
    Damon Albarn is a Grammy Award winning singer, songwriter, producer and composer whose eclectic musical style and observational lyrics have made him one of the UK’s most influential and consistently interesting musicians.
    As a member of Blur alongside Graham Coxon, Alex James and Dave Rowntree, Damon released seven albums including Parklife, Modern Life is Rubbish and most recently Think Tank. At the forefront of Britpop, Blur went on to win four BRIT Awards.

    In 2000, Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett created the most successful virtual band ever, Gorillaz. Their multi-platinum debut album Gorillaz sold in excess of 5 million copies worldwide. "Demon Days" (2005), the second release from Gorillaz, went on to win the Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration. 2010 saw the release of Plastic Beach and The Fall ahead of a world tour with a live band that included Mick Jones and Paul Simonon of The Clash and video animation, artwork and film by Jamie Hewlett.

    Albarn’s first full-length opera composition, Monkey: Journey to the West premiered at Manchester International Festival in 2007. Created in collaboration with Jamie Hewlett and Chen Shi Zheng, Monkey was performed entirely in Manadrin and went on to show at the Royal Opera House, the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, and in New York as part of Lincoln Center Festival 2013. His second opera Dr Dee, co-created with Rufus Norris, premiered at Manchester International Festival in 2011 to widespread critical acclaim before opening at the English National Opera’s London Coliseum as part of the 2012 Cultural Olympiad.

    Other releases outside of Blur and Gorillaz include: "Mali Music" (2002) recorded with local musicians in Mali; "The Good, The Bad and The Queen" (2007) with Paul Simonon, Tony Allen and Simon Tong; Kinshasa One Two (2011) by DRC Music – recorded with Western producers and contemporary Congolese musicians in the Democratic Republic of Congo over 5 days in July 2011 to benefit Oxfam; and Rocket Juice and The Moon (2012) with Tony Allen and Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. June 2012 saw the release of a studio album Dr Dee, 18 tracks of songs and music inspired by the life of John Dee, mathematician, polymath and advisor to Elizabeth I, written and produced by Albarn.

    Other projects include Africa Express, the collective of African and Western musicians founded by Damon and Baaba Maal in 2007. Following acclaimed outings in Britain, France, Spain and Nigeria, Africa Express filled a train with dozens of guest artists in September 2012 and played several sold out shows and pop up performances across mainland Britain as part of the London 2012 Festival. Africa Express will release a new album titled Africa Expres Presents: Maison Des Jeunes in December this year. The record was recorded over 6 days last October in Bamako, Mali with local Malian musicians and Western artists and producers including Songhoy Blues, Kankou Kouyaté, Bijou, Brian Eno, Nick Zinner and Ghostpoet.

    Damon Albarn’s film soundtrack work includes Ravenous (with Michael Nyman), Ordinary Decent Criminal and 101 Reykjavik and most recently Broken.

    He is a co-founder of record label Honest Jons and in 2006 travelled to Algeria with an Honest Jons production team to record thirty one local musicians performing Chaabi at the Conservatoire d’Algiers. The result was an album, Abdel Hadi Halo & The El Gusto Orchestra of Algiers, released on the label the following year.

    As a producer, Albarn most recently co-wrote and produced the critically acclaimed Bobby Womack album The Bravest Man in the Universe (2012).

    Damon Albarn has sold over 30 million records worldwide. He lives in London with his family.
    A new studio album from Damon Albarn – his first solo record - will be released in Spring 2014.
     

  • A new studio album by Damon Albarn - his first solo record - titled Everyday Robots will be released by Parlophone on 28th April 2014.

    Recorded last year at Albarn’s West London studio 13, Everyday Robots is produced by Richard Russell of XL, with whom Damon produced Bobby Womack’s ‘The Bravest Man In The Universe’- and features guest appearances from Brian Eno and Natasha Khan (Bat For Lashes).

    Led by title track ‘Everyday Robots’, the 12 songs here invite the listener into Albarn’s world for a genuine ‘one-to-one’ and are the most soul-searching and autobiographical since his musical journey began: a career that started with Blur and spans Gorillaz, The Good, The Bad & The Queen, Mali Music, Monkey: Journey To The West, Dr Dee and Africa Express.

    The songs’ subject matter is more directly personal than before and is inspired by Albarn’s experiences from early childhood to now, including the trappings of our modern existence, computer games, mobile phones and nature versus technology.

    The lead, title track ‘Everyday Robots’ is accompanied by a video directed by artist and designer Aitor Throup. The film is a digital portrait of Albarn by Throup and uses CGI software and actual cranial scans and facial reconstruction techniques to explore and reveal the process of building a uniquely personal portrait of an artist and individual.

    Throup also creatively directed the visual concepts for the single and album artwork, as well as shooting Albarn for the album cover image.

    Damon Albarn will headline at Latitude Festival on Saturday 19th July 2014 with a band including guitarist Seye, drummer Pauli The PSM, bassist Jeff Wootton and Mike Smith on keyboards.

    Everyday Robots will be available as a digital download, CD and 12” vinyl.
     

    PRESS:

    Damon Albarn Solo LP 'Everyday Robots' Inspired by Elephants, Eno, Gavin Edwards, Rolling Stone, January 2014

    "It was very cathartic," Damon Albarn says of his solo album Everyday Robots, slated for release on April 29th. Away from his various bands, including Blur and Gorillaz, Albarn cut 12 tracks that explore a range of his influences, from early childhood to the pitfalls of modern technology. It's a haunting, hypnotic collection of songs, floating through the ether of memory. Albarn called us from his London studio to talk about it.